Secrets, Love, and Duty
by MacBeth2001
Summary: The latenight interrogation of a Kuni witchhunter. His superior has lingering questions about his last mission. Will his answers suffice?


Notes: Finally, L5R is on this site! I just had to give them this story. I've got lots, but it's the only one I deem worthy of posting.

I hope L5R fans find this, and post their own. I know lots of them are hard-core, and make their own websites for their fics, but there've gotta be some marginals like me, who love this site, and will post here.

Finally, I don't own L5R, and wish Wizards of the Coast never had.

Well, on with the show... I'm not gonna give a term glossary like they do in the Herald. If you're here, you know what I'm talking about.

**Secrets, Love, and Duty: A witch-hunters tale**

Footsteps broke the silence in the darkened Kuni dojo. A lone shugenja knelt in meditation and, as the sound reached him, he slowly opened his eyes. The incense had burned out hours before, when the last servant had come and gone from these chambers. The deep blue twilight had been replaced by midnight's blackness. No one remained in this part of the castle except the shugenja and the visitor who had just entered.

"Tell me about Kuni Oronoko." The newcomer who spoke was also a shugenja, far older than the one kneeling before him. More importantly, he was also a witch-hunter. His request was neither casual nor optional. The younger man closed his eyes again before responding.

"I loved her," he said simply. The witch-hunter arched an eyebrow.

"Your candor surprises me, Inyaku-_san_," he said. The elder man crossed the room to stand facing the younger. Inyaku opened his eyes once more, but only to look straight ahead.

"Secrets kept from those who trust you are poison," he said. "And Scorpions employ that poison more often than any other." He then glanced pointedly at the witch-hunter's hands, resting unusually close to his weapons. "We do trust each other, do we not?"

"Our mutual trust is not at issue," he replied, avoiding Inyaku's question. "I only came here because I have further questions regarding the incident of two weeks ago. Your report was somewhat... vague."

"Your lack of candor surprises me, _sama_. I'm certain the possibility that I was in some way responsible for the incident has occurred to you. And, I suspect that your questions are meant to determine my guilt or innocence."

"Interesting," said the old shugenja. His leaden tone matched his countenance. "If, for a moment, we assume you suspicion to be correct, I dare say what little you have told me speaks more to your guilt." Inyaku nodded, then moved from kneeling to a comfortable sitting position.

"Well, then," he said, "I pray you allow me to continue..."

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The members of my family have always been _tsukai-sagasu_. From the time I could understand what that heritage meant, I knew I would also join their ranks. First, however, I was to train at the Shugenja School and hone my abilities with the Kami. Afterward, my father had arranged for his most promising student, Kuni Sudaro, to teach me the duties of the witch-hunter. Of course, it was at the Shugenja School that I met Oronoko.

At first, she and I were friendly rivals, trying to best one another in the progress of our studies. But quickly, our friendship grew closer, and before long, we became lovers. Everything about her captivated me, from her sparkling eyes to her fierce logic. Too many Crab women are stoic and severe, marring their beauty to my eye. Oronoko was always strikingly vibrant. I never asked her why she loved me, though. I think I feared that if she set her brilliant mind to wondering, she would realize there was no good reason.

There was an unspoken understanding between us that our affair would end after I began learning from Sudaro. I was soon to be married to Shosuro Shinara, and with her to watch over my new household, I would be free to travel with and assist my new sensei.

When the time did come for me to join Sudaro, I found I was not the only shugenja in whom he had taken an interest. Oronoko's studies had always complimented mine. While I studied the physical and martial, her interests lay in the lore and skills of knowledge. Sudaro thought that, together, we rivaled some of his peers' skills in diversity. So, he had arranged for both of us to accompany him.

For many days, broken only by the coming of winter, the three of us traveled the Crab lands. And every one of those nights, Oronoko and I spent in each other's arms. Sudaro had to have known. Even his _eta_ servant, Goro, knew. But we never let our love compromise our duties, and Sudaro never mentioned it. I always meant to repay him the _koku_ he spent on a third room that always went unused wherever we stayed. I never did.

Two weeks ago, we were staying in Dawn's Light Village. We had been tracking a nomadic Bloodspeaker cell for the last eighteen days as they gathered followers and supplies from a number of small villages around the province. Sudaro presumed that they would make an extended stop in Dawn's Light because of its large size, and whether that guess was correct or not, it was there we could finally catch up to them. Considering this, we had entered the village under the guise of merchants on our way to meet our caravan.

After our arrival, what remained of the day passed smoothly into night. I crept from our inn and into the woods at the village's northern edge. I spent only a short time searching before spying two robed figures moving purposefully, deeper into the forest. They led me to a scene I had expected, but found no less unsettling.

The robed men joined three others, and together they oversaw numerous peasants clearing areas of trees and brush. Each time a spot was cleared, a worker would be killed there and his body left to rot upon it, his blood soaking into the newly bare earth. Some of them, I even recognized as residents of Dawn's Light. It was evident that the five _maho-tsukai_ had managed to subvert some of the local populace quicker than Sudaro had anticipated.

After a long time spent in quiet observation, I stole back to the inn as quickly as I dared. Sudaro and Oronoko were still awake, awaiting my report. Once they'd heard it, we agreed that the Bloodspeakers would not be prepared in time to act tonight. Sudaro dismissed us so he could deliberate, promising to have a decision about what to do by morning.

Oronoko and I retired to her room. Her warm body pressing against mine chased away the chill I had acquired by stalking the forest at night. Her pleasure at my touch conjured up more than enough lust within me to smother the fear of what I'd seen. We made love to spite the darkness around us, then fell into a peaceful slumber together.

"We're leaving," was all Sudaro would tell us when we met for our morning meal. Further discussion on the subject would have been dangerous. I recognized a few people around us from the woods the night before, keeping their distance probably because their guilt was hard to hide. It was just as well, for I had little skill in hiding my scorn. But later, even as we walked alone on the road out of town, Sudaro remained silent.

"What are we doing, Sudaro-_sama_?" I asked. I had grown impatient for him to reveal his plan to us. He kept walking, not looking back.

"I told you," he said. "We're leaving. The nearest Crab garrison is a day and a half away, at the provincial border. We'll gather what troops they can spare us, then return in force." Shock froze me in my tracks.

"Return to what?" I asked loudly, concealing none of my outrage. A few paces behind me, Oronoko stopped as well. "In three days time, that village will be nothing but a blood-stained memory! Whatever those cultists have begun, they will finish tonight. And if we leave now, no one will be left to stop it!"

At that, Sudaro finally halted and turned back to face me. Normally an unflappable man by necessity, he was now becoming very annoyed.

"And what would you have us do, Inyaku?" he challenged. "Against five _maho-tsukai_ and their followers, what can we do? We are but three!"

"If numbers are all you fear, my lord," I condescended shamefully, "then let us rally the villagers to our side. They would gladly fight against those who would destroy them."

"Not content as merely a fool, you must be an insulting fool?" Sudaro sneered back at me. "Did you see all the faces that were in the forest last night? Can you even remember all that you did see? If we fight with the villagers, then we fight with enemies in our midst. How dare you presume that I have not considered every other option? They are all suicide!"

"Suicide or not, I am a Crab!" I shouted. "I do not flee from evil, I face it! And I refuse to run away now and leave innocent people to die!"

"They're only _heimen_," Goro said calmly. The _eta_ had a deft way of avoiding taking sides in an argument by making it impossible to tell if he was being serious or darkly comic. As a result, the volatility of the situation was defused somewhat, but an impasse remained. Just then, Oronoko stepped forward.

"If I may propose a compromise, Sudaro-sama," she said. "I suggest that Inyaku and I stay behind while you continue on ahead. It is my belief that the two of us could devise an ambush that would cripple the Bloodspeakers' efforts, and still allow for the possibility of our escape."

I had never seen Oronoko look so serious. Her confident smirk and the knowing look in her eyes were both gone. Instead, she who had always been my light had an uncharacteristic darkness about her. I admit, at the time, I mistook her demeanor for something as simple as doubt about her plan. In light of how things turned out, I suppose that was all Sudaro took it for as well.

"Yet anther insubordinate assistant," he grumbled. He bit his lower lip in thought, looking from Oronoko to me, then back again. "I see I cannot dissuade you from pursuing this course of action... but I can't allow you to undertake it alone." He quickly removed his _wakizashi_, still in its _saya_, from his belt. Turning, he handed it over to Goro.

"Take this and go," Sudaro told him. "It will prove your authority when you deliver my request for aid. I will remain and assist with the ambush. With luck, our sacrifice will save some lives, and perhaps leave the soldiers an easier task when you return with them."

"If luck is on your side, my lord," said Goro, "you will have no need for the soldiers." Whether he was being encouraging or sarcastic, none could say.

Oronoko, Sudaro, and I stood for a while, watching Goro's receding form as he raced toward the border. Once he was out of sight, we traveled off the road, heading directly for the forest. Sudaro walked a little ahead while I kept pace with Oronoko. Still, she seemed to carry some unknown burden and I hoped to improve her mood.

"Oronoko-_chan_," I said, smiling warmly, "the work we do is grave, but we need not be also. Your face without a smile is like dawn without the sun."

Slowly, her stern features began to soften. When she finally looked up at me, her smile returned, and she was wholly herself once more.

"Whatever happens tonight," she said, "all that matters is that we love each other." And to hear her say it made it real to me. My concerns about the outcome melted away with her words. That was her gift. She could tell from my face that my heart was lighter, and her own smile grew.

"Don't worry," she continued. "We'll kill them all."

Once we reached the forest edge, I took the lead. Though approaching it from a different direction, it wasn't long before I brought us to the defiled ground. Corpses still lay everywhere. One of the Bloodspeakers must have coerced the air Kami to not allow the stench to leave the area. They also had brought in a large stone, about the size of a barrel, to serve as an altar. A little blood had already been spilt upon it, but it was this night that the dark rituals would begin in earnest.

We waited patiently through the hours before sunset. Listening and watching for early comers, as well as deciding where to hide ourselves, helped distract us from the horror of our surroundings. Once night fell, Sudaro and I used our skills in stealth to conceal Oronoko at the top of a small incline. Then, we move to our own, separate positions, below her and closer to the "altar".

It felt as though many hours passed before we finally heard sounds and saw torchlights coming toward us from the village. The five Bloodspeakers walked solemnly into the clearing. Behind them came their followers, thirty or so peasants, most showing some signs of the Taint. The bodies they stepped over, and on, counted at least that many plus half as many more. It was like a twisted parody of courtiers, tenaciously but respectfully dogged by their sycophants. Though not even a Scorpion court could aspire to be as sinister as that place.

The throng of onlookers held back as the Bloodspeakers approached their "altar". But their quiet reverence quickly turned into shouted confusion as the _maho-tsukai_ who led the others let out a scream of pain. He stumbled backward, still screaming, as his skin blistered and smoked. Seconds later, he fell dead, another corpse among many. The ward against evil I had inscribed nearby had worked perfectly.

While disorder still reigned in the clearing, Oronoko and I unleashed the Jade Strike spells that we had prepared. Green blasts of purity ripped through the bodies of two more Bloodspeakers and struck down at least eight of their assembled minions. Disorder then gave way to outright chaos. Those still standing searched frantically in the flickering torchlight for the source of the attacks. Knowing that I had no time to cast any other spells before they spotted me, I drew my katana and charged.

At the same time, one of the two remaining Bloodspeakers tried in vain to shout commands above the cries of panic. As he did, corpses near his feet shifted, and a dark figure rose from the ground. All those around him thought that he had summoned a zombie to aid them. But then, Sudaro swung his blade, slicing open the _tsukai_'s belly and severing the leg of a tainted follower who stood beside him.

Upon my charge, I had cut down two peasants caught unprepared. As the enemy realized I was among them, however, I faced far greater resistance. They were unskilled in combat, but their Taint made them strong and fast. Nearly each time I tried to strike a blow against them, it would be returned in kind. Finally, the sheer number of foes against me made it impossible to do anything besides block and parry.

My arms and chest already had several tiny cuts and my sleeves were in tatters. Then, in the course of combat, I instinctively raised my blade to block an incoming overhead swing. Too late, I realized the opening I had given my attackers. Another's weapon bit deep into my now-vulnerable midsection, just above my right hip. I immediately hugged my torso with my left arm, pressing my hand against the wound, as I grunted in pain.

Staggering backward, I swung my sword wildly in front of me in a desperate attempt to keep my assailants at bay. But as the Tainted pressed closer, disorienting pain and unsure footing made short work of my retreat. A clumsy dodge sent me sprawling to the ground. I landed on my back on top of one of the dead, and I hit my head on something solid. Though dazed and winded, my body still tensed in anticipation of an impending deathblow.

None came.

Once the ringing in my skull subsided, I could hear the sounds of combat nearby. The gash in my side protested mightily as I struggled back to my feet. By the light of torches lying abandoned on the forest floor, I caught sight of Sudaro dispatching what appeared to be the last of the assembled peasants. At first, I puzzled over how he could have slain so many in such a short time. Then, a sudden fear gripped me, and I looked hurriedly around for Oronoko.

I had barely managed to glimpse her dark silhouette, still at the top of the incline, when a cry from behind me brought my attention back to Sudaro. I turned to see him suspended in mid-air; the last Bloodspeaker held him aloft in one hand by the back of his neck. Before I could act, black flames snaked up the _tsukai_'s arm and enveloped Sudaro's head. His screams were horrific, but brief, as the witch-fire burned away his face and throat. His limbs shook violently as the flames engulfed the rest of him, but soon, all movement ceased. The Bloodspeaker threw the charred remains to the ground, then looked at me.

He began advancing on me, smiling confidently. As he drew closer, he reached out toward me with the same hand that had held Sudaro. I could only hold my position, all the while praying that Oronoko had run away. Suddenly, he jerked his hand back as if he'd touched something hot. He looked me in the eye, and in his eyes, I saw fear.

As we stared at each other, the Bloodspeaker winced in pain. Then he did so again and again. His face contorted a fourth time and he let out a defiant yell, tearing the top half of his kimono to reveal his chest and arms. Small cuts were appearing out of nowhere all over his flesh. He stared at his body in astonishment, then looked to me, almost pleadingly, just as another cut tore through his eye.

The Bloodspeaker yelled again. His loud, mournful wail slowly degenerated into wet, fitful coughing. The coughs brought with them blood and even a severed piece of tongue. He was being shredded, inside and out. Eventually, he sank to his knees, vomiting his mutilated innards. And once the retching was done, he toppled over and lay still.

I wanted to run away. All rational thought had abandoned me, leaving only a visceral need to flee that cursed place. But I was weak from loss of blood. When I tried to move, I just collapsed where I stood. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Oronoko running down the incline toward me. Blood was dripping down the fingers of her left hand from a slice across her palm. In her right hand, she clutched an open spell scroll and the knife that had caused the wound. It was her own knife.

I awoke in the same spot where I'd fallen. Night still hung in the sky and bodies still covered the ground. Oronoko knelt beside me. She had already dressed my wounds, and was just finishing a healing spell. Even after she saw I was conscious, she made no attempt to hide the cut on her hand. When she caught me staring at it, she sighed.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way," she said to me. She stood, turned away from me, and took a step or two before speaking again. "I know how you feel about secrets. I would have told you this evening if Sudaro hadn't insisted on coming along. It's almost for the best that he didn't survive. He would not have understood."

"I'm not sure I understand," I said to her, rising to my feet as well. "What desperation could possibly drive you to use maho?"

"Oh, Inyaku!" she said, shaking her head. "Practicality drives me, my love. You know that." She turned to me again, with a look on her I remembered well from our days at school. She was slightly amused, slightly aloof, and seductively coy, just as she was whenever I'd ask for her help with a problem she had already easily solved.

"I am a Crab," she continued. "I fight the Shadowlands. And the most powerful weapon we have against the Dark One is that which he himself has given us. We use the Damned to fight the Horde, and they use their Taint. What I've done is no different. Had I not used maho against the Bloodspeakers' minions, you and Sudaro would have been overrun."

My heart broke a little with each word she spoke. To see the evidence of her maho use hurt me deeply. But to hear her admit to it, and, moreover, try to justify it, was almost unbearable. Oronoko saw my sadness, and slowly embraced me. I just held her as she held me, for I could think of nothing else to do.

"I know you're worried," she said, her head pressing against my chest. "But the Damned can stave off the ravages of the Taint with their sense of duty. I have that and more! I have your love, Inyaku. Your love can protect me form the evil of the Taint."

Then she kissed me. And when I returned her kiss, I felt her lips smile against mine. With my hand, I sought out the curves of her body through her kimono. I ran my fingers through her hair, and down her soft cheek until our kiss finally ended. We looked at each other, smiling, though my face was wet with tears.

"My love will protect you from evil," I told her.

Then I sank my knife into her heart. I had unsheathed it just after our kiss, while she smiled at me. I watched that smile melt into a look of utter surprise. And that look, not sadness, not anger, not even understanding, was what remained on her face until she died.

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"I held her for a little while, before I came back to my senses. Soon, though, I found the strength to do what needed to be done. I disposed of what maho scrolls I could find. I made sure the fires would not spread. I did what I could for my companions, removing their heads in the customary fashion. Then, I made my way back to the village."

"I see," said the old witch-hunter. "And I believe you, Inyaku-_san_. This explains a great deal. Still, I fail to understand why you chose to disclose the nature of your relationship with Oronoko. My only interest was in the unusual circumstances of your battle with the Bloodspeakers. Your love seems immaterial to the explanation."

"I thought I was clear earlier," said Inyaku. "Because of our mutual trust, I kept no secrets from you. I also hoped to reinforce that trust by illustrating the point that my duty comes before all... even love."

"But was it not for love that you failed to report Oronoko's use of maho until now?"

"Not for love," said Inyaku. "I fear there are few samurai, even within the Kuni family, whom I could trust with such sensitive information. So, I omitted Oronoko's actions from my report for her honor, for her family's honor, and for our family's honor."

"An acceptable rationalization," conceded the elder shugenja.

"Now, if I may take your leave, my lord," Inyaku asks, rising. "I am not often away from home so late. I fear I may have worried my wife."

"Of course," the old man replies, waving a dismissive hand. "And let me assure you, word of this shall not reach her ears, former Scorpion or not."

"You do my wife a disservice, my lord. It was Shinara herself who taught me that adage about secrets being poison. She has always known about my love for Oronoko, just as I know that she is deeply in love with a Bayushi samurai-ko named Satami. We always winter in the lands of her former Clan. But we also trust each other never to put our hearts before our duties, to this Clan and our marriage. Indeed, we are a better match than any can know. And I have kept her waiting too long.

"Good night."

**END**


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